Lunge 21 - The End

What were your favorite modules in the program?
I liked writing in my blog. Podcasts were interesting. YouTube has so many things on it that I didn't expect to find there. I liked the photos sites. It's hard to say what my favourite modules were as I think I found something interesting in all the modules. I've learnt that there is so much more on the web than I could ever have imagined.
What technology did you find most interesting for your personal use?
I think YouTube is great. I've searched for videos from Bollywood films several times since I did that module. Facebook is interesting too.
What technology did you think would most be useful professionally for RMIT University Library?
We already use Blogs in the library. When we trialed the Mobile Loans Service at Swanston Library, a Blog was created for people to voice their opinions about this new mode of service. I didn't create any posts myself but did read what other people had to say. I think it was a useful tool for obtaining constructive feedback about the new service.
Social bookmarking I think would be very useful in libraries.
Professional networking groups come to mind. Document Services is undertaking a Thesis digitisation project of theses published before 2006. We need to contact the authors to ask for permission to put their work on the ADT. Finding current contact details may be a challenge. One of my colleagues suggested that Professional Networking sites may be a way to contact
them.
If I had to chose one that I thought would be most useful professionally I would say RSS feeds as it keeps you up to date and up to date information is important for libraries.
Were there any unexpected Web 2.0 modules that really surprised you i.e. that you really didn't know anything about or expect?
Web 3.0 surprised me the most as it got me thinking of Robots and Artificial Intelligence. Taking things out of human hands and leaving it up to the smart computer. Maybe with Web 3.0 the world will be run my computers!
What could be done differently to improve this program’s format or concept?
Maybe at the end there could be a brief overview of each technology.
I'm glad I did the programme. I feel like I have learnt a lot. I will go back and use some of these technologies both professionally and personally.

Lunge 20

The Semantic Web.....
I found a great video on RomBlog that describes the Semantic Web well. It seems to be a way of computers making it easier for us to find the information we want. As someone who works in a library this could only be a good thing.
It's about computers understanding what the information on the web means.
The video on RomBlog says Web 3.0 is already happening to some extent. As it is already happening to some degree and I'd like to think that anything is possible it probably will be developed further.

Lunge 19

I thought this was supposed to be fun! That was quite a challenge!
I couldn't find "Today's Tags" only found "Popular Tags". Had a bit of difficulty figuring out how to add places, eventually I figured it out though. I got a bit carried away with making a best of list, I so do like making lists. I really need a rest now!
Here's the link to one of my goals:
http://www.43things.com/people/progress/Chandani121/11927187
This goal is learning to speak Hindi. I love all things Indian and when I go to India I want to get the most out of the trip. I think being able to speak Hindi would make the experience so much more special.
I've created a delicious link to my 43 Things profile.

Lunge 18

Google Talk
I had a look at Google Talk. Had a few problems. I added my brother to chat with and we tried using the same computer to chat but in different browsers, I think this may have stopped us from being able to chat or talk to each other. This message kept coming up: "You cannot call because ivan.zovko is using chat in Gmail or another chat program other than Google Talk." I assume these types of technologies weren't made to talk to people on the same computer, that makes sense! I did send him a message in chat though and a voicemail which he received in his Inbox.
I'd heard of Skype before. I think it's great that these technologies exist. Being able to talk to people in other parts of the world without racking up huge telephone bills is useful. This technology certainly has a use in libraries as Deakin University has demonstrated.

Lunge 17

I wasn't able to find the East Timor University Library group but I did manage to find the web-2-melbourne group. There are only 13 members and there are only two messages. This group doesn't seem to have taken off. I had a look for some Vegan related groups and some of them had a lot of activity. I think this is a Web 2.0 technology that could be used in the library, we could have an RMIT Library group.

Lunge 16

I sent a Sclipo video on how to draw eyes to the School of Arts Liaison Librarian.

This is a link to the Vegan Food mashup:
http://pipes.yahoo.com/pipes/pipe.info?_id=AgeBQnPX3BGEnYrzw5tC8g
I like this site because its brings together a whole lot of Vegan recipes in the one place, mainly from a lot of blogs.
Advantages of mashingup.....
You get a whole lot of sources on the one topic in the one place. Great! This means I don't have to search for each site separately.

Lunge 15

I searched for India and found many beautiful photographs. A great source for amazing photos.

http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=India&m=text

Lunge 14

I've taken the survey, but no time to rest as the end is so close!

Lunge 13

I think mashups are a very useful tool, they are a great way of making a website look more interesting but most importantly bringing together elements from various sources that result in a better end product. I like the maps that have the pop-up things!
When I think of sources that could be used to make mashups I think of Google Books, Amazon, and Google Maps.
What could they be used for.....
Inspired by the running routes in London on the 21 Lunges page I think a map of Melbourne showing where the bike tracks are would be useful.
In regards to libraries.... the library catalogue could do with some mashup features. Book covers from google books or amazon could pop-up somewhere, contents pages (if not in the catalogue already) and for fiction maybe a blurb from the book. I think catalogues have the potential to be much more useful than they are currently. This is particularly important for remote users who can't easily get the book off the shelf to inspect it further.
Another thought for libraries.... maybe completely ridicilous! We could have a map of the library with pop-ups of information indicating the different parts of the collection, indicating broad subject areas, the different study areas, location of PCs and Macs. Maybe we could have a computer specifically with this to help people find there way around the library. And because they are photos of the library they could use features of the building to help them find their way around. Or maybe a mashup map on the library website to indicate changes that have occurred in the library. Just a thought......

Two mashup map URLs:
http://www.gurulib.com/
http://chicago.everyblock.com/crime/

Lunge 12

Buzzle.....buzzzzzzzzz

Buzzle looks like a useful site. There are quite a lot of interesting well written articles on a diverse range of topics. You can get up to date world news and look at archives of old news. The site says it's articles are written by some of the best authors on the Web". I can't imagine they would say the opposite of this but I wonder how authoritative this is as a source?? Lot's of recipes and my favourite: wise and thought provoking quotes! This is definitely a site I will go back to.

Lunge 11

Wow! YouTube. I think I have been Internetless for far too long. There is some exciting stuff here!

Lunge 10

My experience with Blog guides and catchers....
I found it difficult to find any RMIT library related blogs, though I did manage to find two champion blogs and the Business Library blog. Is it just my bad searching (I hope not as I work in a library!) or are these blog catchers not so good at catching much of anything? The search results are a bit cluttered and as I don't seem to get much joy from them I don't see myself using them much. I understand what Jonathan Bailey was going on about in 'Why blog searching fails'.
Creating an RSS feed to the blog was also a bit difficult. I tried to subscribe to the blog as I did in a previous Lunge but it said that the URL was incorrect. I got around it though with the help of a colleague and managed to subscribe to a blog.

Lunge 9

I think Delicious would be a really useful tool for everyone. If for what ever reason I had to work at another computer that didn't have my favourites on it as a alternative to importing them I could log in into my delicious account and access them that way. I imagine Liaison Librarians may have lists of sites that they refer to regularly that are specific to their subject areas. If they have to go to another site to meet with a client delicious would be a good way of easily accessing these sites. If students or staff are doing research and they find a useful site they can easily and quickly bookmark the site in delicious. Being able to add notes to remind yourself of why you bookmarked the site is a useful feature. All my favourite websites in one place and the reason I bookmarked them sounds very useful. Delicious I think could be very useful both professionally and personally.
Link to my account: http://delicious.com/LotusFlower2
I chose the Libraries Australia site as I use it extensively in my Document Delivery work. It is a good tool (not excellent though as sometimes unfortunately holdings are not accurate) for bibliographic verification and to check library holdings. It is also a useful tool that I have referred students to at service points.

Lunge 8

I tried doing some searches in Digg but didn’t get any results with the search terms I used. Obviously no one there likes what I like, so I moved on to StumbleUpon. I did find some interesting sites there and clicked on the “I like It.” On a side panel you see people who like the pages you have found. Clicking on them brings up a profile of the person. Many of them give the name and age of the person and something about their interests, there is a profile picture, friends (people who like the same sites), there are also site reviews. I was reminded of Facebook when I saw this.
If I have understood correctly your search on these types of sites is limited to what people say they like/what’s popular/sites other people have added. It may be useful for meeting people with the same interests, like people who love libraries! I suppose it’s just another way of saying I like this or that and suggesting that other people have a look at what you like. It may save some time when searching for information on a certain topic but you would get a limited list of sites. I think it could be an amusing way to spend a bit of time.

Lunge 7

Where Do We Begin? A Library 2.0 Conversation with Michael Casey

This conversation is saying that Library 2.0 is a way of encouraging a library to assess the services it offers. Are they outdated?? How can we change or modify them to reach this new online user?? Web 2.0 isn't just about integrating new technologies into the library but reassessing you services, rules and procedures.
I think the article makes a good point. People accessing information online is increasing and libraries need to modify or change to make sure they attract all types of users to the library.

Lunge 6

My discoveries about Facebook………
I was already on Facebook when I did this lunge so I have joined the RMIT Swanston Library Group.
Facebook is still a bit of a mystery to me, you really need to spend some time looking at the site to discover all the little things that exist within it and what you can do with it. Requests that have been sent to me sometimes disappear and I wonder where they have gone??? Is there a manual on Facebook out there? I think it would be useful!! I’ve discovered a few things by accident, like the how you know someone part of Facebook, my cursor just happened to go in the right place and there it was, I’d always wondered where this feature was.
I think Facebook is useful as you can learn things about colleagues and friends that you may not already know and you can also see what they are upto. I don’t know how useful a tool it is for libraries though.

Lunge 5

I edited the Bibliographic Tools Demonstration on the 21 Lunges Wiki. I added a bit of purple and some links to make it look pretty.

Lunge 4

Wow! Podcasts! I always wanted to learn to speak Hindi and it appears that podcasts may be a useful tool to get me started. I'm excited by what else I may find in the world of podcasts!

Lunge 3

I created a RSS feed to Vegan.com on Google Reader.
I also added RSS feeds to the Blogs of two colleagues to my Blog.

Lunge 2

I have finally created a blog!